Cornell holds off Avella in Class A girls game
IMPERIAL – Frustrations were few and far between over the last eight games of the regular season for the Avella High School girls basketball team, which won seven of those contests to clinch a postseason berth.
But for the Eagles and coach Jack Conn, it was a frustrating Saturday afternoon as Avella lost a WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game to ninth-seeded Cornell, 44-40, at West Allegheny High School.
Cornell’s Myka Smith made a three-pointer with 2:40 remaining in the first quarter to give the Raiders a lead they would never surrender, despite Avella rallying and making it a one-possession game on seven occasions.
The win advances Cornell (8-15) to the quarterfinals against top-seeded Winchester Thurston.
The best chance Avella had to take the lead was after a pretty fast-break, finished with a layup by Jordan Rush with 2:19 left in the third quarter, that trimmed the Cornell lead to 26-25.
“We just couldn’t finish it,” said Avella coach Jack Conn. “We never could overcome that little bit of a deficit. When we got it down the one point, then threw the ball away twice.”
Cornell wouldn’t allow Avella (13-9) to come within a possession of tying the score for the rest of the game.
Cornell’s Patience Gipson scored all her eight points in the fourth quarter, igniting a 6-1 Raiders run to begin the period.
“When you are behind, you have to make good passes and get to the hoop,” Conn said. “We played around with the ball too much. You have to be able to penetrate and cause problems. We didn’t do that.”
With Bess Lengauer, Avella’s best post player, according to Conn, returning to practice only yesterday after suffering a concussion, Cornell was able to take advantage under the basket for a sizable rebounding advantage, especially on the offensive end.
Those rebounds led to open looks for Cy’Moni Harrison, who finished with a game-high 15 points for the Raiders.
Avella had the deficit to four points with under two minutes but only made 3 of 12 free throws in the final quarter.
Ella Lengauer scored eight points for the Eagles.